Mnangagwa’s UN performance shames detractors

The hatched plan by the MDC-Alliance supporters in the United States to humiliate President Mnangagwa, through demonstrations during the just-ended 73rd Ordinary Session of the United Nations General Assembly in the United States, miserably flopped.

The MDC-Alliance’s US branch had slated their demonstrations for Saturday; three days after President Mnangagwa had delivered his maiden blast of a speech that attracted foe and friend alike. President Mnangagwa returned on Friday.

Already, the timing of the demonstrations tells a story about the organisers, most of whom are asylum seekers who want Zimbabwe to be in perpetual crisis so that they justify their continued stay in the US.

One really wonders how the MDC-Alliance supporters intended to shame President Mnangagwa in his absentia. It was Albert Einstein, a German mathematician and physicist, who once defined insanity as “doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result”.

This is the same mistake that the refugee strategists are making in their plot to embarrass the Zimbabwean leaders at UN. They have tried it for the umpteenth time and each time they are dwarfed by the December 12 Movement.

It had become their tradition to protest against former president Robert Mugabe during his annual trips to the UN General Assembly. They, however, forgot to change their game plan in response to the change in the driving seat. The driver of the ship is now President Mnangagwa whose political thinking is different from his predecessor.

President Mnangagwa met Zimbabweans in the US and explained to them the situation in the country. He explained the opportunities that are available for them, especially those who are skilled and have acquired experience from working in the Diaspora. Unfortunately, this could not excite the MDC-Alliance supporters because most of them are mere refugees without any skills.

Most of the Zimbabweans who had intended to join the Saturday demo had second thoughts after the fruitful engagement with the listening President. They realised that they have been fed with skewed propaganda by the MDC-Alliance activists.

The engagement enlightened them and some have vowed to invest significantly in the country. In his engagement with the Zimbabweans, the President addressed most of the issues that the MDC-Alliance supporters had listed as their bone of contention.

The President told them that his administration was working on the logistical requirements to allow Zimbabweans in the Diaspora to vote in 2023. This was an exciting piece of news for the Diasporans who have, for a long time, been demanding to be accorded the right to vote.

The President also told the Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and the world at large that he was implementing a cocktail of economic and political reforms. For instance, he said he would adopt the Commonwealth parliamentary democracy where the opposition leader is to be officially recognised.

He assured the world that he would implement some recommendations made by observers during the country’s July 30 harmonised elections. With such assurances from the President, only a fool can continue with the hopeless demonstrations.

One of the organisers of the botched demonstrations, Murozvi Mada, who is also the MDC branch’s organising secretary, had said their demonstration sought to make the international community understand the situation in Zimbabwe. He also said they wanted to tell the international organisation that President Mnangagwa was the product of a rigged election. It’s unfortunate that the MDC-Alliance supporters wanted to preach to the converted.

The inter-governmental organisation had observers on the ground who apprised them of what actually happened during the electoral process. It was on the basis of those appraisals that the UN validated the Zimbabwean elections.

The MDC-Alliance supporters only got to know about the situation in Zimbabwe through some discredited channels such as social media. In that case, the UN was more informed than the Alliance supporters. The UN is encouraged by the paradigm shift in the Zimbabwean politics.

The setting up of a seven-member Commission of Inquiry into the violent demonstrations in Harare om August 1 excited the international community. It is a waste of time to protest against such a leader whom the world has resolved to give a chance. Zimbabweans in the Diaspora must act as ambassadors who market the brand Zimbabwe.

It’s a shame that, instead, foreigners like members of the December 12 Movement are doing that. History will surely judge these unpatriotic Zimbabweans harshly.